Ebola survivors: each hand print represents a patient who contracted Ebola and survived

Alexandra Czerniewska (2005)
Evacuated from the 2014 Liberian Ebola
outbreak, Alex Czerniewska (2005) explains
why she flew back into the heart of it.
College highs and lows
My early days at Queens’ did not go to plan at all. Within four days
of arriving, I was struck down by glandular fever and jaundice,
eventually admitting defeat half-way through the Freshers’ pyjama
pub crawl. I re-emerged a couple of weeks later yellow and sweaty –
not the best first impression! Amazingly, I made some very wonderful
friends who were able to see past my sickly appearance. They remain
my best friends and I don’t think I could have stayed sane during
the craziest moments of the Ebola outbreak without their constant
support via WhatsApp messages.
High points at Cambridge involved lots of rowing, performing at
May balls with the University Rock & Roll team, drinking equal
quantities of tea and wine, getting lost in the University Library and
regularly escaping to the calm and order of the Fitzwilliam museum
(or John Lewis).
I had low points too. I originally read Architecture but de-graded half
way through my second year, overwhelmed by the workload and

weekly crits. With help from my Director of Studies I came back the
following October, having switched to History of Art which I loved.
I’d spent my ‘time off’ working with the Terrence Higgins Trust which
helped me acquire great experience for work after Queens’.

After Queens’…
I wanted to work somewhere I could make a difference. So, after
graduating, I joined a medium-sized charitable foundation where I
spent three years encouraging big corporates and wealthy individuals
to support a range of tiny, grassroots charities across London. I
became interested in the challenges of providing affordable housing in
London, and moved into a policy and research job with a major social
housing provider where I ran a research project to evaluate the impact
of social housing provision on the health and well-being of tenants.

My path to working in an Ebola outbreak
In February 2014, my boyfriend, Peter, got a job in Liberia for the
Ministry of Finance (I had to Google where Liberia was) and I decided
to take my first ‘gap year’ and see what voluntary work I could pick
up. International Development is a notoriously difficult sector to get
into, but by virtue of being in Liberia and able to start straight away,
it took me just a few weeks to get a position with the well-respected

3

Clinton Health Access Initiative, embedded in the Liberian Ministry of
Health. From April to August 2014 I was working with a team looking
at how to increase the quantity, and improve the quality, of Health
Workers in the country.
Over a decade of civil war, ending in 2003, killed an estimated
270,000 people in Liberia and decimated the nation’s economy and
infrastructure. The clinics and hospitals I’d visited in Liberia were
invariably basic: lacking power and running water, and suffering from
bed shortages, depleted pharmacies and under-motivated staff who
were on strike regularly over late or missed payments. Only 50% of
women give birth in a healthcare facility; I don’t blame them.

Ebola at the outset
Liberia had its first Ebola case a couple of weeks after we arrived,
but for months it felt like something very distant that would soon
be under control. The first cases in the capital, Monrovia (our home),
were reported in mid-June and the atmosphere shifted suddenly. The
city was ill-prepared to cope and the virus spread through hospitals,
communities, and eventually entire neighbourhoods.
When four doctors in Liberia contracted the virus - two of them
Americans – our small corner of the globe became front-page news
around the world. In late July an angry relative of an Ebola victim
tried to burn down the Ministry of Health (with us in it) and a Liberian
government official prompted mass world panic by flying to Nigeria
taking Ebola with him. I got a horrible call from my boyfriend to say
he had been registered as a potential contact (thankfully he’s ok!).
West Africa Ebola
virus outbreak
situation map,
(photo credit CDC)

Alexandra with Louise Jones and Andrea Turner at their 2005
10-year reunion.
all health workers (national and international) were trained to the
WHO standard.
all Ebola Treatment Units were set up and operated properly
(difficult) or closed down safely (more difficult still).
clinical care guidelines for Ebola were distributed and complied with,
to curb the use of new and untested ‘treatments’ by foreign doctors
taking advantage of the limited medical or ethical scrutiny in Liberia.
Life under a ‘State of Emergency’ was markedly different to our life
before Ebola. Buckets of chlorinated water had appeared across the
country and my temperature would be checked at least four times
a day. The country was now host to hundreds of short-term Relief
Workers in branded field vests and massive 4x4s.
I worked almost non-stop up to Christmas knowing that, for the first
time in my life, failing to send someone an email might actually be
a matter of life or death. One of the greatest challenges was for the
myriad of different UN, US and other agencies to work collaboratively.
In the end, the real battle against Ebola was won by communities
across Liberia who learned the signs of infection and effectively
isolated anyone suspected of Ebola, thus stopping transmission.

Evacuated
We were afraid of Ebola, but even more concerned from a security
perspective – this was a country that had only been at peace
for eleven years, with little effort at reconciliation or justice for
the atrocities of the civil war. What effect could a deadly, rapidly
spreading virus have? Along with the majority of other expat
development workers, I was evacuated back to the UK in early
August, one week before British Airways stopped all flights.
After watching the situation unfold from London for eight weeks, I
booked a plane ticket back, arriving as Liberia recorded its highest
number of new cases in a single week. I was seconded to the
Ministry of Health’s National Ebola Taskforce, the main coordinating
body for the ‘Ebola response’. Whole families were dying – unable to
believe in the existence of the disease, or simply unwilling to hand
their loved ones over to a doctor whose face they couldn’t even see
through their full protective clothing.
I became the Special Assistant for the Head of the ‘Case Management’
Division responsible for all aspects of care for Ebola patients. We
ensured:

Relief at last
On Saturday 9 May, 42 days after the burial of Liberia’s last confirmed
case* (she was the 4,806th person to die), WHO declared Liberia
Ebola-free. I can’t even write these words without tearing-up. It’s
been an enormous privilege to work hand in hand with hugely
dedicated and inspiring colleagues in the Liberian government
and to have played some small part in helping Liberia through yet
another incredibly difficult period in its history.

Plans for the future
I wasn’t expecting that my ‘gap year’ in Liberia would see me
working at the heart of the biggest Ebola outbreak since records
began, but it’s been an incredible opportunity to learn. I have just
a few weeks left in Liberia now before I return to the UK to start a
Master’s in Public Health in Developing Countries at the London
School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
*there have since, sadly, been a few isolated incidences but the fight
continues.

THE BRIDGE | Summer 2015

4

Sarah Cliffe (1985)
During the academic year of 1984-85 the BBC sent a film crew to capture what it was like
to study at a Cambridge college; they chose Queens’. The series covered the full spectrum
of College life from interview to graduation, and featured porters, bedders, Fellows and
students. To celebrate 30 years since the broadcast, one of the successful interviewees,
Sarah Cliffe, sheds light on the filming and what she’s done since leaving Queens’.
Aged only 16, Sarah faced an interview panel comprising the President (Ronald Oxburgh),
the Admissions Tutor (John Tiley), and Law Fellow (Richard Fentiman). She amazed them
with forceful observations and carefully-presented arguments on the morality of nuclear
war. Amidst stunned post-interview comments such as “she has a lot of spirit” and “I don’t
think she will be an easy pupil”, the Fellows awarded her an Exhibition.
Since leaving Queens’, Sarah Cliffe has worked for the Congress of South African Trade
Unions, the World Bank and the United Nations. She lives in New York with her husband, is
stepmother and mother to three sons and a daughter and is currently the Director of the
Centre for International Coordination at New York University.

Where are they now?
I have a vivid memory of opening my
acceptance letter at my family home in
Pontypool with cameras surrounding us.
The BBC was keen to demonstrate the
range of students, from comprehensive
school backgrounds, grammar and public
schools. I was the comprehensive school
girl. They insisted we open my results in the
kitchen and spent all morning staging it to
make it look as working class as possible.
During the filming I couldn’t decipher my
offer and didn’t know whether I’d been
accepted or not.

College days…
Queens’ was a revelation to me. It provided
exposure to a much wider world. I came from
a mining town - the kind of place that my
careers counsellor told me that, with my high
grades, I could aspire to work in a bank (as a
teller). Cambridge broadened my horizons:
the people who attended Cambridge and
the ideas they had of what kind of job and
life they could create, their confidence and
control over opportunities – it opened up a
sense of possibility for me.
I sometimes think I could have been more
immersed in the University. Unusually, I
didn’t live in College in my first year, I lived
with friends from outside of College. In my
third year I shared a house in Cambridge
with Jenny Pryke and Lesley Ann Daniels
from my year.

Post Queens’

I also remember the screening of the
programme two years later. The press
wanted to know about my career
ambitions. I thought the most rebellious
statement I could make was that, when
I graduated, I wanted to work as a
community organiser and have children.

Initially, I went to work for a management
consultancy – it was very good training and
gave me professional skills I still use, but I
didn’t find private sector work fulfilling. I left
after three years and took a job in South
Africa as a trade union organiser and part of
the anti-Apartheid movement.
I later studied for my Master’s degree in
International Relations and International
Economic Policy from Columbia University.
After Columbia, I went to the World Bank
where I worked in countries emerging
from conflict and political transition such

Copyright Crisis Group, Tomas Jansen

What do you remember about the
filming?

as Afghanistan, the D.R.C., Ethiopia, Haiti,
Indonesia, Liberia, Rwanda, South Sudan
and Somalia. I was the first World Bank
representative in East Timor after the
conflict and established the World Bank’s
department for conflict-affected countries.
Most recently, I was Assistant SecretaryGeneral for Civilian Capacities at the United
Nations, before moving to New York
University this year. I’m finding it rewarding.
After twenty years at the UN and World
Bank, it’s nice being in a university. I am
looking forward to having the freedom to
write what I want!

Postscript:
Professor Richard Fentiman received
a proposal of marriage based on his
appearance in the programme. As he
likes to recount, it was not from his wife.

5

Recent news and awards

Please send your news & photos to thebridge@queens.cam.ac.uk

Academic excellence
Sasha Hajnal-Corob
(2011) (right) came
top in the University in
Part III Natural Sciences
(Astrophysics), winning
the coveted Institute
of Astronomy Prize.
Jack Stewart (2011)
got a First in the
LLM postgraduate
degree, adding to
his three Firsts as a
Law undergraduate at Queens’. Michael
Loy (2012) came top of the University
in Part II Classics and won the Wace
Medal. Millie Clark (2012) came third
in the University in Part II Classics and
won the Chancellor’s Medal for Classical
Proficiency. Adam Smith (2011) won
the Bartlett Prize for his performance in
Part III Mathematics. The Prize is named
after Professor Maurice Bartlett (1927).
Edward Reeve (2014) came top in the
University in Part 1A Music. He will be
the Senior Organ Scholar in October.

Honorary Fellow
Professor Rod Smith FR Eng (1971) was
Director of Studies in Engineering at Queens’
(1978-1988) and his Honorary Fellowship
recognises his significant contribution to
the development of the subject while at
Cambridge, as well as his stellar career since.

Queen’s Birthday Honours

News

CBEs were awarded to two Queens’
Fellows: Vice President Professor Lisa
Hall, Professor of Analytical Biotechnology
and Chair of Disability Snowsports UK, for
services to Higher Education and to Sport;
and Professor James Jackson (1973),
Professor of Active Tectonics & Head of the
Department of Earth Sciences, for services
to Environmental Science (see page 6).
William Haire (1975) Permanent Secretary,
Department for Social Development Northern
Ireland Executive, was awarded a CB for
services to Government in Northern Ireland.
Stephen Hoddell (1967) former Chair,
Samaritans UK & Ireland, was awarded
Commander of the Order of the British
Empire for services to Civil Society.

Awards
David Craig (1994) took Silk as a member
of Essex Court Chambers
Dr Manohar Singh
Gill MP (1967 &
Honorary Fellow),
was awarded an
Honorary Doctorate of
Science, for services
to Agricultural
Development by the
University of Agriculture Faislabad, Pakistan.
Professor John Swales (1957) will be
awarded a PhD honoris causa by The
University of Silesia, Poland, in October 2015.
Mr Gifford Combs (1983) (below) has been
elected Fellow Commoner. He is on the
boards of the new University fundraising
campaign and Cambridge in America.

James & Katy Adams (both 2001) met at
Queens’ and were married in the Chapel in
2008. Their third child, Lucy, was born on
Christmas Day, 2014. Katy matriculated as
Kathryn Jackson.
Three Queens’ alumni are now MPs: Suella
Fernandes (1998) is the Conservative
member for Fareham; Stephen Kinnock
(1988) is the Labour member for Aberavon;
and Liz Kendall (1990) is the Labour
member for Leicester West, and a candidate
for leadership of her party. All three met for
tea in the Houses of Parliament recently.

Earthquake expert and
Queens’ Fellow, Professor
James Jackson, was in
Kathmandu the week before
the tragedy in Nepal last
April. In the aftermath of
the quake that killed over
8,000 people, he was called
in by the Cabinet Office to
provide expert analysis and
recommendations. Here, he
explains how earthquake
awareness can be raised and
how difficult it is to predict
the next “big one”.

Insight: Professor James Jackson CBE FRS (1973)
Background:
BA (Natural Sciences) Queens’, 1973,
Foundation Scholar
PhD (Geophysics) Cambridge, 1980
Fellow of Queens’ College since 1979
Elected Fellow of the Royal Society 2002
Royal Institution/BBC Christmas
Lecturer 1995
More than 180 scientific publications
Awarded the 2015 Wollaston Medal of
the Geological Society of London
Head of Department of Earth Sciences
Adviser to governments, civil engineers
and insurance companies on risk. This
includes advising on the location of dams,
nuclear power stations and pipelines, and
identifying risks to major cities.

Your research…
My real focus is on using earthquakes to understand how the major features of the Earth’s
surface, such as mountains, basins and plateaus are formed. These are the main geological
structures on the continents, and all of them were once created during earthquakes, even if
they are now quiet, like the North Sea and Scotland. Their modern, active equivalents are the
Aegean Sea and Himalayas, where the earthquakes allow us to see the geology in action. It is
through understanding how these processes shape the Earth that we can learn to read the
signals in the landscape that reveal the geological hazards in vulnerable places.
I supervise undergraduates at Queens’ in Earth Sciences, helping Dr Marie Edmonds, who is
now the Director of Studies. I enjoy teaching the students on the various field courses we run,
particularly in Scotland and Greece.

Kathmandu
I was at a meeting of a project called Earthquakes Without Frontiers (EwF), which aims to
bring together Earthquake Scientists, Social Scientists and Policy experts to share expertise
and experience and work towards increasing resilience to earthquakes in the AlpineHimalayan-central Asian earthquake belt.
It was a coincidence that the EwF meeting was in Kathmandu. We had no prior knowledge
of an imminent earthquake. With the current state of scientific knowledge we cannot predict
or forecast the time or dates of earthquakes, beyond saying that where they have happened
in the past, they will happen again in the future. The understanding that Kathmandu was at
considerable risk has been a well-publicized fact for many decades, certainly since the last
very big one in 1934.
The difficulty faced by good leaders and organizations in India is getting people to
concentrate and invest in reducing earthquake risk, which seems remote, when they

have everyday concerns common to
Asian urban life that are much more
real and pressing: pollution, air and
water quality, traffic and poverty. Those
immediate priorities are understandable,
but it doesn't mean the earthquake
threat will go away, as this tragedy has
demonstrated. This is not a problem
limited to Nepal and Kathmandu, but is
common to most countries in the AlpineHimalayan-central-Asian earthquake belt.

Learning from disasterâ&#x20AC;Ś
Appalling though this event was, it could
have been far worse and, at some time in

the future, Nepal is likely to experience a
bigger earthquake, so they have to build
resilience quickly. This is not simply a matter
of top-down directives: individual people
and communities have to understand the
situation and take responsibility for what
they can do.
In Nepal, there was a lower loss of life than
we expected. The earthquake was smaller
than the one in 1934, and moved the fault
that slipped by only half as much. Many
modern buildings did withstand the shaking
(not all, of course). This could be interpreted
as evidence that the programmes of the
Nepalese government and the non-profit
agencies did save lives. A disaster averted is
always hard to demonstrate.

in Tehran, using the opportunity to raise
awareness in Iran. Some of the same
international partners present in Kathmandu
attended this as well. One benefit of the
EwF partnership is to support local scientists
who can show their local politicians and
policy makers that they are well-connected
to the international earthquake-science
community, and that their assessment of
the hazards is well-informed and up-todate. It is through prolonged engagement
and collaboration with countries in the
partnership that we have established
confidence and trust, as well as undertaken
excellent collaborative science, and we
certainly hope to continue this.
Let's hope that this event is the trigger for a
more positive outcome.

Extending the reachâ&#x20AC;Ś.
One reason that we held our recent EwF
partnership meeting in Kathmandu was
so that our friends from Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Iran, China, and India could
learn from the Nepalese experience of
building resilience from the bottom up. The
relationships formed at that meeting will
now be focussed on helping the Nepalese
rebuild and increasing awareness in their
own countries.
A month after the Nepal earthquake we
had a follow-up workshop and meeting

A geological puzzle for alumni:
Everyone knows the mountains of the
Himalaya and Tibet are related to the
ongoing collision between India and
Asia. But why has Asia crumpled up
over a vast area, with earthquakes all
the way to Mongolia, while India has
remained relatively undamaged?
Email your responses to
development@queens.cam.ac.uk

THE BRIDGE | Summer 2015

8

Alumni Books

Dr Rebekah Clements (Fellow)

Dr Graham Denyer Willis (Fellow)

Dr James Campbell (Fellow)

Shahilla Shariff (1985)

Dr Paul Ellison (1978)

Nigel Lake (1986)

Understanding

National
Identity
David McCrone
Frank Bechhofer

Madeline Garlick (1995)

Prof Frank Bechhofer (1956)

Matt Cain (1994)

9

Halcyon Days: Brewing Beer
Simon Rogers (1975)
One of the benefits bestowed upon us for our
third year was the opportunity to influence our
room allocation. Four of us decided to attempt
to get a Cripps corridor together which could
then essentially become a flat (albeit with one
unfortunate fresher having to share it).
Thus began our experiment in self-sufficiency.
It started with frustration over College
catering arrangements. So, to supplement
the two rings in the gyp room, we found
a ‘Baby Belling’ oven and grill at a jumble
sale, chained it to the worktop and, armed
with Step by Step Cookery by the recently
late Marguerite Patten, started our culinary
adventure from absolute zero. Cooking in
turns for the group, it became, of course, highly competitive and after many
basic disasters ended with candle-lit dinners on the roof of Cripps building.
I have no idea how we got tables up there, or how we got away with it.
The more serious enterprise, which brought
massive economic benefits, however, was
brewing. Another jumble sale visit and we had
an old ‘Burco Boiler’, the sort used for boiling
up the wash in the post war years. This was a
perfect mash tun.
Buying-in drums of malt, bags of hops and
supplemental grains enabled us to brew ten
gallons a week – the fermenting buckets
fitting perfectly in a Cripps wardrobe. Sunday
night was brewing night, involving both
bottling the previous week’s effort (a bitter,
mild or, our signature brew, a porter) and
mashing the current week’s brew. It became a
very sociable affair as can be imagined.
Lemonade bottles from the bar were perfect for conditioning and I clearly
remember cycling to a soft drink plant on the Newmarket Road, hoping to
persuade them to let us have a job lot of new screwtops. They indulged my
request, before explaining that the tops are actually moulded to the individual
bottles from sheet metal!
The resultant brews were shared out and taken down to the bar in jugs bought
for the purpose, saving us ever having to pay money over the counter, and
making us very popular.
Brewing is a pretty
invasively pungent
activity and results in
large volumes of spent
hops, yeast, etc, all of
which had to be disposed
of. Again, I marvel at
the tolerance of the
authorities concerned
and our fortune in having
the most forgiving
bedder in Cambridge.
Simon Rogers, 2nd left, with fellow brewers

Offer. Pool. Reject.
Lorna Sargent is retiring after 28 years
as Admissions Coordinator. She has
sent out letters of acceptance and
rejection to generations of Queens’
applicants and, here, recounts some
interesting goings-on.
28 years equates to drafting roughly 17,360
letters of acceptance and rejection
In that time, I’ve worked with four Senior Tutors
and six Admissions Tutors.
I’ve seen some astonishing things as Admissions
Coordinator. I met HRH The Queen Mother
twice, found bizarre things left after interviews
(the Scooby Doo “onesie” was the oddest) and
worked too many Christmases to count.
I’ve loved the contact with the students and
their parents – I’ve met some extraordinary
young people.
One great memory of Queens’
was helping to commission
a College flag that eventually
ended up in space. In 1992,
astronaut Dr Mike Foale
(1975 & Hon Fellow) was
heading off on a NASA
expedition and wanted to
take the College flag. This was
a brilliant idea, except when
we realised all the specifications we needed to
adhere to. The flag had to be a certain weight and
fabric to be taken to space. In the end, it had to
be carefully wrapped by me - so my finger prints
went into space, even if the rest of me didn’t.
I’m really going to miss working with everyone…
but I’m looking forward to spending some time at
my sewing table and enjoying time off at Christmas
with my partner, Erik.

Having worked at the Vatican and in the UK’s most violent prison,
the chaplaincy at Queens’ seemed the logical next step for Tim
Harling. Here, he reveals his plans…
Journey to Queens’
It was during my time at Southampton that I joined the church. My family aren’t churchoriented, so it came as a shock to them. After graduating, I was offered a job at the oil company
Schlumberger. Concurrently, my Chaplain suggested I should put myself forward for training for
the priesthood. I thought they would chuck me out at the first round, but I was selected.
Between graduation and my chaplaincy study, I worked for Mission to Seafarers at sea on
a container ship travelling from the UK to New Zealand. I worked at ports in Auckland and
Rotterdam, ensuring that the conditions were sufficient for sailors: pay, food and lodging
(many large ships are registered in countries with poor human rights records).
In my third year at Fitzwilliam, I was delighted to be selected as one of two Anglicans chosen
to work at the Vatican for six months. Whilst training for the priesthood at Westcott House, I
took my placement at Queens’. I was later ordained in Winchester Cathedral and served my
Curacy in one of the twelve “Greater Churches” in the country, Romsey Abbey, for four years.

Prison service
During my chaplaincy I found myself frequently working within prisons (Parkhurst on the Isle
of White and Winchester). Eventually, I took a job as Coordinating Chaplain in Peterborough
High-Security Prison - the most violent in the country at the time.
I was at Peterborough Prison for four years, running a team of fourteen chaplains from ten
different faiths. By the time I left, the Chaplaincy was seen as an example of best practise by

11

Prison Inspectors. I worked as Family Liaison Officer (the first point of
contact with families when prisoners die in custody) and with Special
Branch (engaging and pursuing extremists in prison). Though I
enjoyed my work, I gradually began to feel more like a Manager than
a Priest. I needed a change but wanted to stay in the chaplaincy; I
discovered the job at Queens’.

Changes at Queens’
I think it was beneficial to come to Queens’ from outside the
collegiate system, with fresh eyes. Every act of worship is open to the
public. Having come to religion late on, I’m conscious of how scary
faith can be – my hope is to make people, who are unfamiliar with
religion, feel at ease and welcome.
It’s important that we consider the students with regards to the
services we hold. Most churches have a Sunday morning service
but, at Queens’, we polled the students – they said the best time for
the main communion service was a Tuesday evening. We made this
change and there are more students attending than ever.
My priority in the coming months is to look at what we do - and how
we cater to graduate students. We are undertaking a comprehensive
graduate review and I sit on the Graduate Review Committee. We
have an opportunity to give graduates a reason to come to College
and find a home for the faith part of their lives in College.
Although I’m an Anglican Priest, I want to engage and enable people
of all faiths. If you’re a Sikh, Hindu, Muslim or Christian student, it’s
my job to enable you to practice your faith. We are working towards:
Improving Kosher meals for Jewish students (Queens’ is
championed by the Rabbi)
Creating a space for Friday prayer for Muslim students in College
Reserving a space for the Buddhist Society to meet in our
antechapel weekly
Inviting the Catholic Chaplaincy to use the Queens’ Chapel termly
for choral mass
This year, for the first time, the Chapel was used during the May Ball,
which was well received.

Welfare at Queens’
The prison system is obviously very different to College, but there
has been a similar thread linking my previous work: relating to
young people in positions of high stress. I’m there to help students
articulate their feelings and I see little difference between welfare
and chaplaincy.
I’m thrilled to be here under the new Welfare System, unique
amongst the colleges. As a team, our aim is to engage students
proactively before problems become acute and solutions reactive. I
like to be around at formal and informal gatherings and get to know
the students – especially in their first year. That way, they know me
when they need me; of course, word of mouth is the best publicity
for our programme.
I feel lucky to have been shown the ropes by Mairi Hurrell (Welfare
Adviser) – she’s the closest thing to a saint the College has. The new
Welfare System has been in place since 2013, working alongside the
Tutors. It’s rewarding to see it’s making a difference.

Adjusting to College life
The biggest adjustment has been that in prison, every day by design
is like the last; at Queens’, it’s an intense eight weeks, three times a
year. It’s something I’m still getting used to. The nature of prisons
is you leave your work behind bars (short of a death or riot – I’ve
experienced both) whereas in College, problems rarely occur between
9-5pm, Monday to Friday. In term time, I’m always on call – if
students need me I’m nearby: a ten minute walk and five minute run.

For Alumni
Alumni are welcome at all Chapel services throughout the year
– during term time there is something happening in the Chapel
every day.
Every matriculated member of College can ask to be married in the
Chapel. (The week after the May Ball, I was asked three times about
marriages at Queens’).
There are specific services throughout the year, like the
Commemoration of Benefactors, where we give thanks to those
who have given to the College.
Through a generous gift from an alumnus, a hearing loop has been
supplied to the College and will be functional by Michaelmas term;
this will enable our hearing-impaired members to enjoy Chapel
services.
Alumni are always welcome to knock on our door and ask about
the Welfare System. I’m always interested to know what it was like
beforehand.

THE BRIDGE | Summer 2015

12

Katherine at the Varsity match (in the light blue hat)

Katherine Chapman (2014)
Discovering, aged five, that she had a rare bone
disease, Katherine Chapman never let it get in
the way of her success in swimming and in her
studies... Meet the postgraduate on her way to
becoming a Nuclear Engineer.
“Nuclear Energy at Cambridge… they said it would be hard, but it's
really hard!” Following her BSc in Physics & Philosophy from Sheffield
University (where she undertook summer work experience in CERN),
Katherine took a year out to work as the sabbatical Women’s Officer
at Sheffield Students’ Union, where she campaigned for women’s
rights both within the University and at a national level. Now, back
to the books, as she reads for an MPhil in Nuclear Energy, Katherine
adjusts to student life again. “It's the little things that I find odd; it’s
strange to have someone clean your kitchen and to sleep in a single
bed again. I live offsite in Queens’ accommodation along Maid’s
Causeway with 17 people; it sounds like a lot but I enjoy it and have
really phenomenal housemates.”

throughout our childhood and teenage years and, although it
took out a lot of time from our social lives, I wouldn’t change it for
the world. It gave us the determination to succeed and be fully
dedicated, and now it provides such a release when times get
difficult.”

First strokes

Ollier’s disease

Katherine has been swimming since she was 18 months old; her
parents wanted their children to be competent swimmers, and she
ended up getting drawn in. “My brother and I swam competitively

Diagnosed with Ollier’s disease (affecting 1 in 100,000), aged five,
it manifested itself in her hand and leg, necessitating a year-long
leg-lengthening procedure, requiring a metal frame attached to her

Katherine has successfully competed in the Varsity Swimming Gala,
racing the 100m Backstroke, 400m Freestyle and the Medley Relay
and gained her full Blue time in the 200m Freestyle at the British
Universities & Colleges Sport finals in Sheffield. She was also the
fastest Cambridge female in the Henley Open Water Varsity race, a
two kilometre, upriver swim that takes place at 4am.

13

leg when she was ten. With a year taken out
of the sport she loved and time away from
school, it was a challenge for her whole
family. “It was definitely a very frustrating
time, with regular doctors’ appointments in
London and the need to consider the extra
difficulties in everything that we did. I am
so lucky to have such caring and patient
parents, and my ever-supportive brother,
who it was sometimes difficult to watch
succeed when I wasn’t able to.”
More recently, Katherine has had further
difficulties with her health, requiring a finger
amputation in April 2014 due to a type of
bone cancer (Chondrosarcoma) and, as
a result of complications from this same
disease, she has developed a lump on her
skull, causing double vision. This has put a
strain on her studies with time taken away
for medical appointments, and the stress of
coping with her own illness alongside her
mother’s breast cancer. “It has definitely
brought us closer together; with our
diagnoses being three days apart, we knew
we were going to have to help each other
through. Luckily we are both well on the
way to recovery, and have both had truly
wonderful people around us throughout.”
With her disease being so rare, Katherine has
had to travel all over the country to receive
treatment, and will need some further
treatment when she leaves Cambridge. “The
main thing I have learned is to keep going as
normal whenever possible; and when that
hasn’t been possible, there has always been
someone there to help me through.”
“I don’t think my illness propelled me into
science; it certainly kept me away from
medicine. I’m definitely a scientist by
nature. My mum is a GP, my dad studied
Biochemistry and my brother is studying
Biology. If anything, you become an expert
in your own illness. I often have to tell
new doctors about my disease and when
research developments emerge about
Ollier’s disease my mother and I send the
latest research papers to my doctors for
their information.”

Queens’ experience
“I have had a lot of support whilst at
Queens’. I receive a DSA (Disabled Student
Allowance) and I consider Emma Dellar
(College Nurse) a great friend. At one point
in the year I was frequently working in her
office; she cheered me on to keep working
when I wasn’t motivated. She has been
incredibly supportive and I know I can pop
in and visit her at any time.”
“I couldn’t ask for better friends to live with
at College. We have shared dinners; there’s

a strong international contingent at the
house so we have had meals from all over
the world, and there is always someone to
curl up and watch a film with or share your
triumphs and frustrations. There are a few
people who I would not have been able to
get through the year without, and it is such
a testament to the family atmosphere at
Queens’ and across Cambridge that there
are so many people that have taken time
out their busy schedules to offer help and
support to their friends.”

The Fry moment
Recently, Katherine attended the Cripps
Feast where she was introduced to Queens’
alumnus and Honorary Fellow, Stephen Fry
(1978). They talked about swimming and
the varied opportunities that Cambridge
offers its students. “Stephen Fry is the
patron of a charity called ‘Listening Books’
which provides audiobooks to those who

have difficulty to read due to disability or
illness, something that has greatly helped
me throughout my difficulties. It was such
an honour to meet him and let him know
how his patronage has benefitted myself
and others like me by allowing access to a
whole world of fiction that would otherwise
be much more difficult to discover.”

What next
Katherine will submit her dissertation at
the end of the summer and will have great
prospects after graduation. “Ideally, I will
move to London to pursue my career; right
now I’m exploring my options- there are a
lot of fields that interest me.”
“Swimming will always be a big part of my
life and it’s something I always want to
make time for. All the way through illness,
studying and working; swimming has been
a constant.”

Fellow Focus: Professor Beverley Glover
As Director of the Botanic Garden at Cambridge University, Beverley Glover juggles a staff of 60,
teaching, research, a laboratory, a University Chair and a family. She explains why she gardens badly,
despite recently publishing the second edition of her book, Understanding Flowers and Flowering.
Why a career in botanical sciences?
It was an accident. I went to St Andrews for
my BSc because it had a strong reputation
for Marine Biology, which is what I thought I
wanted to do. We didn’t specialize until our
third year, so I did Plant Biology as one of my
options and loved it. Plants have all the same
challenges animals have – getting enough
energy, nutrition, water; not getting eaten;
finding a mate; setting their offspring out in
life with a good start – but they have to do it
all rooted to the spot. The solutions they’ve
come up with are so clever! I’ve always used
the living collection at the Botanic Garden as
inspiration and to provide material to work
with; so, it was an easy decision to apply for
the Directorship when it became vacant!

Queens’
I have a strong link with Queens’. My
husband and I were the first two Fellows
of the College to get married! I married
Stuart Bridge (now a Life Fellow, formerly

an Official Fellow in Law and also former
Admissions Tutor) in 2003, with a blessing
in Chapel by the Revd Dr Jonathan Holmes.
We have two children both christened by
Jonathan in Chapel too.

Do you have time for research?
The answer is yes, but it’s hard – I could
definitely use a clone of myself!
Since establishing my own University
research group I have focused on the
development of floral features which
enhance pollination success (why there
are so many different sorts of flowering
plants – we focus on understanding the
evolution of the developmental pathways
that make flowers different shapes, colours,
symmetries, textures etc.). I am particularly
interested in the coevolution of flowers and
their animal pollinators.
In 2005, I added a bee behavioural facility to

my lab, which was previously entirely plant
molecular genetics. This has allowed us to
test the adaptive significance of floral traits.
My lab is currently researching:
the evolution and development of floral
nectar spurs
insect-mimicking petal spots
pollen surface microstructure
cells conferring grip on petals
petal brightness and petal iridescence
This work is important because the
enormous species diversity of the flowering
plants can, in part, be attributed to the
reproductive isolation resulting from the
recruitment of animals as pollen vectors.
By defining how pollinators interact with
flowers and how the developmental
programmes that produce attractive flowers
evolve, we have the opportunity to support
plant breeders in their efforts to optimize
yields of key crops.

15

Plants and education…
At the Botanic Garden we have 8,000 plant
species selected for teaching, research, or
horticultural interest. They are used in many
departments and by a multitude of universities
worldwide; we supply leaves, flowers, seed, and
DNA globally for research projects.
I want the Garden to be better known
internationally for the impressive research
collection and all the great science that has
come as a result. I wanted to take on the
role of Director so I can help to change the
emphasis of the way the Garden is thought of –
great horticulture will always be at its heart, but
people should also know about the valuable
science coming out of the Garden too.
We also use the collection in teaching – for
undergrads in NST and Geography but also
sixth form colleges, secondary and primary
schools, and adult education. We host 10,000
schoolchildren per year – studying curriculum
topics like rainforests, fair trade, crops and
healthy eating. I’m most excited about a new
classroom we have just built in the Schools’
Garden, open this summer; it will allow us to
increase the number of school visits we can
accommodate and permit indoor learning on
wet days.

Upcoming projects?
In the lab, I’m most excited by work we’re
collaborating on with colleagues in Physics
and Chemistry to explore how some of the
iridescent flowers in the garden produce
nanoscale structures that interfere with the
light to generate angle-dependent colours.
Nobody knows how this works in any plant or
animal (think peacock feathers, jewel beetles,
tulips) but we think we might be on to the
answer in flowers!

Nota bene
It is with great regret that the College announces
the death of Professor Ajit Singh, M.A., B.A. (Punjab,
Chandigarh), M.A. (Howard, Washington), PhD (Berkeley,
California), Life Fellow, Emeritus Professor of Economics,
on 23 June 2015. There will be a Memorial Service in
the College on Saturday 7th November at 2pm.
In an obituary for The Guardian newspaper, the President
wrote that Ajit was devoted to Queens’ and how “the
most abiding memories of him will be of the twinkling
eyes below his turban, of a penetrating intellect, and of an
unwavering commitment to social and economic progress”.
Professor James Diggle
retired this summer after
forty years as Praelector,
overseeing (among many
other things) the graduation
ceremonies of generations
of Queens’ students. In an
unprecedented gesture, he
was applauded as he left the
Senate House after his last
“performance” and, then, by
Queens’ Fellows outside.
An inaugural ‘Blues Dinner’ was
hosted by the Fellows to show
their appreciation for the efforts
and achievements of the College’s
University sports representatives.
45 Queens’ students have won
Blues, half-Blues or University
colours. Fiona Hughes (2010),
our Olympic skier, got a
Distinction in Part IIB Engineering,
whilst Alex Hunt (2014) (another
Engineer) played in the fourday Varsity cricket match.

Do you garden?
I garden badly – I have no time now that I have
children! I was Garden Steward for a while.
The roses in Walnut Tree are wonderful - such
a great variety and lovely scented ones too.
Unusually, I like the gravel garden by the
Chapel too (it’s not to everyone’s taste) – it’s
challenging, and asks you to think about the
purpose and nature of a garden.
The Botanic Garden was established on its
current site by Professor John Stevens Henslow,
mentor to Charles Darwin, and opened to the
public in 1846. It covers 40 acres and visitor
numbers have more than doubled in the last
decade to around 250,000 annual visits. The
recent flowering of the Titan Arum, also known
as the ‘corpse flower’, attracted 11,000 visitors.
Flowering is a very rare event, last occurring at
the Garden over a decade ago.

Sixty years since their famous win in the Ladies’ Plate at Henley, most of the remaining
crew members held a celebratory lunch at the Regatta in July. Host, John Cox (1952),
was joined by Tony Shephard (1954), Ian Clayre (1954), David Thallon (1954),
Ross Urquhart (1952) and David Lee (1953) for what, they say, was their final reunion.

THE BRIDGE | Summer 2015

16

Floreat Domus

Some facts & figures
Benefactors of Fellowships have their photos mounted in
the Senior Combination Room.

Queens’ currently
subsidises the education
of each undergraduate
by £3,600 p.a. This
is a total of £1.8m
per annum

The supervision system
at Queens’ is entirely
financed by the College
from its own resources
(including donations)

Fellowship name

Subject

Donor (s)

Anthony L. Lyster

Mathematics

Tony Lyster (1949)

Anthony L. Lyster

Sociology

Tony Lyster (1949)

Anthony L. Lyster

Physics

Tony Lyster (1949)

Derek Bowett

Law

Ewen Macpherson (1961),
Rodney Ward (1963)

John Tiley

Law (3 years)

multiple donors

Hassabis

Computer Science

Dr Demis Hassabis (1994)

Niccoli

Natural Sciences

Dr Demis Hassabis (1994)

John Baldwin

Physics

Prof John Baldwin (1949)

El-Erian

Economics

Dr Mohamed (1977) &
Mrs Jamie El-Erian

Geography

Geography (5 years)

Phil Cox (1970)

Investment assets per undergraduate (£)
200,000

50,000

0

QUEENS’

100,000

MAGDALENE

150,000

PEMBROKE

Queens’ receives £0
in funding from the
government

Through the generosity of alumni, Queens’ has put in place the
following Fellowships in the last year:

SIDNEY SUSSEX

£0

Queens’ has always
been an independent
charity and registered
with the Charity
Commission in 2010

CLARE

Donations from Queens’
alumni provide the third
largest contribution to
the College’s finances
each year (after
fees and residency)
£2.7m in 2014-15

17

Collegiate Cambridge
fundraising campaign
The University Campaign will launch in October
and aims to raise £2 billion for: delivering Change
that Matters by Transforming Understanding,
Solving Global Problems and Serving Global Society.
Queens’ is providing three members of the
Campaign Board: co-Chair Dr Mohamed El-Erian
(1977), Sir David Walker (1957) and Gifford
Combs (1983). All donations to Queens’ count
towards the Collegiate University’s overall target.
Lady Bowett and Jillinda Tiley

Other philanthropic news
Lady Bowett (widow of Sir Derek, President 1970-82) generously donated to
The John Tiley Fellowship in Law to mark her husband’s long association with
Queens’ and her family’s friendship with the Tiley family. Fundraising to endow
The Tiley Fellowship continues.

Major Benefactors’ Plaque
To record the College’s gratitude for some of
the largest gifts to Queens’ in modern times,
a plaque was unveiled in May in the Round by
Honorary Fellow, Mr Ewen Macpherson (1961)
and the President, Lord Eatwell (1964).

Alan Fletcher (1958) and his wife, Wendy, have generously endowed The
Fletcher Bursary to assist financially-disadvantaged students reading Engineering.
The College has been able to buy T-Loop hearing systems for the Chapel and
Old Hall, as well as some portable ramps for wheelchair access, thanks to a
generous gift from The Galanthus Trust (Simon Rogers, 1975).
Access Car Appeal: in the last edition of The Bridge, we mentioned the need
to buy a car for our Schools Liaison Officer. Three donors have come forward
so far, raising £4,200, but further funds are still needed. If you want to support
Access at Queens’, email development@queens.cam.ac.uk.
Robert Gall (1989), having funded a set of rugby shirts for the Queens’ Men’s
XV in 2014 has, this year, funded a set for the Women’s Rugby team.
The Estelle Trust (Nigel Farrow, 1958) has kindly funded an Estelle Prize for
the winner of an annual English essay-writing competition for school pupils,
run by the College’s English Fellows. The competition is for Year 12 students
(Lower Sixth) with pupils writing an essay of 2,500 words on a topic set by
Queens’. A Fellow has also added a £200 donation to buy books for the
winner’s school library.

Invest in Queens’ by
telephone
Last year’s Telephone Campaign was the most
successful ever, raising almost £500,000 for
teaching, the endowment and student support.
Thank you to all who gave. Please support
the College in September and speak to one
of our students. It’s a tough job for our young
callers, but they enjoy speaking with alumni
and gain valuable skills and experience.
Dr David & Rosalind Cleevely kindly provided bursaries for two students
reading for the Public Policy MPhil in 2014-15

THE BRIDGE | Summer 2015

18

Queens’ Curiosity

Hughes-Hallett
Travel Bursary

For a short period between 1883 and 1885, Queens’ was
one of three Cambridge colleges to develop a College
stamp and private messenger system. The stamps were
designed by Mr E. Temperley, a Fellow of the College,
lithographed on white, unwatermarked paper. The price
was one halfpenny each. By Michaelmas Term, 1885,
the postal authorities had prohibited the use of college
stamps and the system of messengers.
You can still find our collection of stamps in the Old Library.

Esteira Hiwaizi (2012) was the first recipient of The Marcus Ivan
Hughes-Hallett Travel Award. The award was established by Marcus’s
family in his memory. It provides a bursary for undergraduate
students wishing to travel abroad, whether for their academic
studies or to undertake voluntary work.
“I am incredibly grateful to the family of Marcus Hughes-Hallet for
setting up this award and for supporting me in my educational travel.
In the Easter Break I went to Crete to have a look at some Greek
inscriptions and visit archaeological sites. I came into contact with
Greek tombs and architecture from as early as the Minoan period
and saw a burial tomb, an ancient temple, mosaics, statues and
numerous accompanying inscriptions. These were vastly informative
for my Classical Linguistics options this year in my degree. It was
helpful to analyse the inscriptions and understand their importance
in context, especially as we can discover so much from their location,
placement and the arrangement of the letters. West Crete is a great
place to visit for a picture of the Greek civilization over a period of
time, as there are archaeological sites from the early Minoan period
through to Byzantine times. I thoroughly enjoyed the trip, especially
hiking for 2.5 hours over a mountain to reach the Lissos site and the
breath-taking views along the way.”

Friends of Queens’ Music news
We are delighted now to have 38 members of the Friends of
Queens’ Music (FOQM). FOQM supports musical excellence at
Queens’. This Michaelmas Term, we will be appointing our first
FOQM Choral Scholar thanks to the generous support of a FOQM
Gold Patron.
Queens’ hosted a spellbinding summer concert in June
showcasing beautiful jazz, choral and string music around the
College, with performances by Queens’ Choir, musicians and
the Director of Music, Dr Silas Wollston.

For the Wings of a Dove
The Choir has released an enchanting CD of music of
‘supplication and hope’ entitled For the Wings of a Dove. It can
be purchased from Orchid Classics. www.orchidclassics.com

Marcus’s parents unveil the Marcus Hughes-Hallett VIII

You can support all music at Queens’ by becoming a
Friend of Queens’ Music. For more details, please
email development@queens.cam.ac.uk.

19

May Bumps

May Ball: Museum of Curiosity

May Ball: Museum of Curiosity

May Ball: Museum of Curiosity

Graduation

Arthur Armitage & 1448 Society Garden Party

Graduation

Family Day

Queens’ Events Schedule
2015

2016

‘1955 & Before’ Reunion Lunch
Wednesday 23 September 2015

Second Years’ Parents’ Dinner
Wednesday 27 January 2016

Freshers’ Parents’ Tea
Saturday 3 October 2015

1966 50th Reunion Dinner
Saturday 12 March 2016

Queens’ Distinguished Lecture in Law
By invitation
Thursday 15 October 2015